Dr. Bach set out to meet the five people of his time whom he felt best exemplified the teachings of Jesus Christ. He travelled the world to pursue this aim, interviewing Helen Keller, Pope Pius XII, Albert Schweitzer, Therese Neumann, and Shoghi Effendi.

Notes

This chapter was published as a stand-alone book the following year as Shoghi Effendi: An Appreciation (Hawthorn Books, 1958, 29pp), and reprinted as A Meeting with Shoghi Effendi by One World (1993, 47pp). The book was online in a variety of formats at www.archive.org/details/circleoffaith00marc, but was removed circa 2014.

The Introduction to the stand-alone book concludes with the following:

The Bahá'ís are confident that the report of Marcus Bach's interview with the Guardian will have profound public influence. We are grateful for the privilege of making it available, and cite with deep appreciation his reference to the Guardian in a letter written a few days after Shoghi Effendi Rabbani's death:

"I am grateful that a good Providence permitted me to meet the Guardian. The full impact of his life will become better known as time goes on. I say this because of his contributions in advancing the Bahá'í Cause, his achievements in the field of Bahá'í literature, and in his devotion to beautifying and reconsecrating the physical area so precious to the Bahá'í Faith. May his inspiration ever lead forward to the cherished goal of good will and peace for all the world."